Love Will Find A Way
by Jing269
Summary: Keiko and her friends embark on a dangerous journey to defeat Aizen’s successor. Will they succeed? MY VERSION BETTER THAN COOL'S! ;D
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, only the OC's. And I even share those with my friend.**

**A/N: This is what I call a "separate collaboration ;D" Me and my friend, Sombody Cool worked together on this for a while, but then we continued alone… unwanted… :'( ANYWAY if you wanna read hers, it on her profile… it's pretty much the same, thought mine has a lot less romance. And I hate the title. SHE came up with it. Wow this A/N is getting long… I'll shut up now ;D**

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**Chappie 1! ;D**

"Kitty-chan!!"

Sashi jumped on the back of her best friend/catgirl, Keiko Kisuke. Because of her cat-likeness she dubbed her the name Kitty (her half-cat genes also took part in this)

"GAH! SASHIMI GET OFF ME BEFORE I KILL YOU!!"

"Ouchy my ears...You don't have to yell so loud I'm right on your back…"

"WHICH IS EXACTLY WHY I'M YELLING!!!"

"Ohhhhh…."

"GET OFF!!" Keiko flung Sashi off her back. Sashi landed hard on the ground with a loud "oof!"

"Ouchity ouch ouch!" Sashi sat there, rubbing her sore bottom.

"That's what you get for sneaking up on a cat!"

"Sorry… but it was just too good a chance to miss!"

Keiko stuck out her tongue at Sashi.

"Hey!" Came a voice from the nearby offices.

"What do you want, Renji-san?!" Sashi yelled

Renji Abarai came out of Byakuya-san's office. His hair was still red, and his nickname was still red pineapple, although he now looked much older, since he wasn't the young, crazy, Shinigami that had taken the girls in when they had first joined the academy many years before. Keiko had been killed by a hollow, and Sashi had been there for personal reasons, unknown by Renji.

"SQUEE!!!!!! I LOVE YOU, RENJI-SAN!!!!!!!" Keiko immediately ran over to Renji to glomp him in a hug, but Renji moved aside at the last moment. Keiko ran into the wall.

"For the fastest Shinigami in a century, you're pretty slow," said Renji.

"Tch, is that any way to speak to the brand new 3rd seat of the 3rd squad?" said Sashi, frowning.

"Whaaaaat?????" exclaimed Renji. "THIRD SEAT?!?! THAT'S GREAT!!!!!"

"So can I hug you now???" begged Keiko, with sparkling, puppy-dog eyes.

"Hmph… fine," That was all Renji managed to get out before he was suffocated by Keiko's glomp.

"Hmph, no congratulations for the new captain of the 9th squad?" asked Sashi, her eyebrow twitching.

"Yeah, yeah, congratulations, fishgirl…" muttered Renji, who was still being suffocated by Keiko.

"That's CAPTAIN Fishgirl to you, lowly Lieutenant…" said Sashi, eyebrow still twitching.

"Man, you're just like Toshiro. Same white hair, twitching eyebrow, and ice blue eyes… You could be his twin for all I know…"

"Maybe, except for the fact that I'm FIFTY YEARS YOUNGER THAN HIM!"

"Ahh, that's right… almost forgot…"

"SQUEEEE!!!! RENJI-SAN SO CUTE WHEN HE ALMOST FORGETS!!!!!!" said Keiko, who had finally released Renji. Renji got up, dusting his clothes.

Right then, Toshiro Hitsugaya walked by and raised an eyebrow at the strange sight.

"SQUEEEE!!!!! SHIRO-KUN!!!!!!!! MUST GLOMP!!!!!" Keiko shot like a bullet, right under Sashi's legs, and glomped on Hitsugaya before he knew what the freak just happened.

Renji caught Sashi before she could fall, just from the sheer force of Keiko's bullet glomp.

"Umm… Renji-san?" Sashi's voice was muffled by Renji's haori.

"Yeah?"

"You can let me go now…"

"Oh. Riiiiiiight…" Renji blushed, remembering how long he had been holding Sashi.

Keiko suddenly stopped squealing. She climbed off of Hitsugaya and cautiously sniffed the air. Her eyes widened as realization hit her.

"Strawberry," she whispered, almost to herself. But Sashi heard. They all heard. Suddenly, there was a bright flash, and they were all blinded. When the light cleared, a man around 20 to 21 years old was standing in front of them. He had spiky orange hair, a really big and wide sword on his back, and light brown eyes. He wore his captain's haori draped over his shoulders instead of wearing it. Although he simply radiated reiatsu, his face was friendly and approachable. This man was Captain-Commander Ichigo Kurosaki.

Sashi, out of pure reflex, bowed low. Keiko grinned, Hitsugaya gave a little grunt, and Renji just said "hey". Ichigo said "hey" back, then gave Hitsugaya a little nod, and ruffled Keiko's hair.

"How's our little kitty-cat?"

"Fine Strawberry-san!!!!"

"Good girl," said Ichigo before turning to Sashi, "There's no need to bow that low, you know. Or that long. I'm not Yamamoto, I can handle a little casualness."

"H-hai! I-I mean, yes sir!" stammered Sashi. Keiko just grinned. Yamamoto had come down hard on her when Sashi had tried to high-five him, and since then Sashi could never be casual with a Captain-Commander.

"Sashimi, you're a captain now. And besides, Strawberry-san doesn't mind being high-fived." The smirk on Keiko's face was getting bigger and bigger.

"Still…" said Sashi, then muttered something indistinct. Keiko wisely chose not to ask her to repeat what she said. Inwardly, however, she was laughing like a maniac. The sight of the usually strong Sashi being so timid was really funny.

Ichigo thought it was funny, too. "Oi, Renji, I thought you were gonna teach Sashi to not be scared by me anymore."

Renji grunted, "Forgot."

Ichigo allowed himself one grin, then turned serious, "Guys, I need to tell you something."

"What?" Said Keiko.

"I was getting to that. Anyway, you guys remember when I killed Aizen, right?" They nodded. "Well, Aizen had a sidekick. Two sidekicks, actually. One, Kaname Tosen, joined us, but the other, Gin Ichimaru, ran away and was never seen again. Until now. Turns out that Gin had a son. We don't know his name, age, or motive, but we know he's just like his dad, and we're marking him as a threat. I want you guys to be careful from now on. Gin was clever and manipulative, and he wasn't afraid to hurt people to achieve his goal. I'm worried about this new threat, so we're gonna put you two-Keiko and Sashi-in a group to defeat him. Okay?"

"OK!" Said Keiko. Sashi just nodded.

"We'll probably put in Yamato and Kai, too. You guys get along great, and work together really well, too."

"Hai!" Said Keiko.

"I should probably get them… you guys have to start planning."

"Plan what?"

"Why, plan how to wreak havoc on little Ichimaru, of course."

"Ohh…"

"Be right back." Ichigo suddenly disappeared in a flash of white light.

"Sooo… what do ya wanna do Sashimi?????"

"I wanna… sleep."

"Ne??? But we're going on a dangerous mission!!"

"Which is why I want to sleep."

"Tch, you're no fun. Fine, you sleep away and I'll play with Yamato and Kai," Keiko blew Sashi a raspberry. Sashi didn't care. Keiko suddenly disappeared, off to find something to do until Yamato and Kai arrived. In fact, she was right in the middle of drawing graffiti on the 11th division wall when Ichigo arrived, with two young boys in tow.

The first boy wore glasses and had chin-length black hair, like his father. However, his eyes were kind, like his mother's. This was Yamato Ishida, one of Keiko and Sashi's best friends. The second boy had spiky brown hair, identical to his father's, except for color. His eyes were a light hazel, like his dad, but the general appearance more resembled his mom. This was Kai Kurosaki, their other best friend.

Finally, they were ready.

**End chappie one! ;D**

**R&R? You get ****broccoli**** cookie~~! (*waves ****broccoli**** cookie in front of face*)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chappie 2 ;D**

**LOL I just realized that my summary had nothing to do with my story ;D Anyway, here's the NEW summary:**

**Summary: Keiko and her friends embark on a dangerous journey to defeat Aizen's successor. Will they succeed?**

**I no own Bleach :'(. I'm even sharing the OCs :'(.**

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"Kai-kun!!!!!" Keiko pounced on Kai. Bravely, he attempted to dodge it. He failed. Keiko had glomped on him before he had taken one step.

"Well… I'll be going. Play nice, kids. Renji, Hitsugaya, let's go," Said Ichigo.

"That's CAPTAIN Hitsugaya to you."

"I'M the Captain-Commander now, remember?"

Hitsugaya shut up. Then they all disappeared in a flash of light.

"Ishida," Sashi said to her friend, smirking.

"Orphan," Yamato countered. Sashi's smirk widened. She would never admit it, but it was the arguments with Yamato that gave Sashi her infamous sharp tongue.

"Yamato-kun!!!!" Keiko jumped off Kai and attacked Yamato with her bullet glomp. Yamato was lucky he had taken a deep breath right before he had it knocked out of him. Sashi sighed. She wasn't sure why, but Keiko's glomping was annoying her all of a sudden. She picked Keiko up by her ear and dropped her unceremoniously on the ground, a full two feet away from Yamato.

"Thanks," said Yamato, blushing. Why he was blushing, Sashi had no clue.

"Hey, Kitty. Let's concentrate on defeating Ichimaru. Then you can glomp all you want."

Keiko pouted, but made no move to reglomp Yamato, and Sashi took that as a yes. "Now, we have to deal with the immediate problem, and that is electing a leader. I nominate myself."

"I vote for Sashi!" Said Keiko. Kai agreed and Yamato grunted. It was unanimous. Sashi was their leader.

"Now, let's work on how to defeat Ichimaru. Does anyone know his name?"

"I do," said Yamato, "His name is Ichimaru Kuroi"

"Kuroi, huh? Fits."

Keiko raised her hand. "When are we going? Are we gonna train first, or just go?"

"It depends." Sashi looked at everybody. "Does everyone here know Bankai? Except for Ishida, since you're a Quincy." Kai nodded. Keiko, however, stayed silent. "Kitty? You don't know Bankai?"

"Nah… dad tried to teach me, but I never got the hang of it."

"You'll have to depend on your speed in battle. Now, Kai knows Bankai. As far as I can tell, Ishida's a decent Quincy. I don't think we'll have to train for long. We'll train for about a week. That's probably all we need. So, in one week, come back to this spot. Until then, train your brains out. Kitty, don't even think about learning Bankai now. It'll be too hard for you." Keiko nodded. "Now, meet back here in a week. Dismissed!"

"Like a true Captain…" muttered Kai. Keiko smiled. She found this funny since Kai was actually a Captain already, of the 7th division. Komamura had died in the final battle against Aizen, and the 7th division had been without a Captain for a while, until Strawberry-san had offered Kai for the job. He often shirked work, but when the situation called for it, he was a good Captain.

"Kai-kun! Let's train together!" Keiko pulled Kai so hard he was afraid his arm would fall off. He just managed to get a grunt of agreement out before he was yanked off his feet.

"Where are you gonna train, Ishida?" asked Sashi.

"None of your business." Yamato stalked off. Sashi sighed. How could she ever work together with him? Regardless of his behavior, though, she still had to find a good place to train. If she was weaker than Ishida next week, he would never let her forget it. Inspired, she went to the one place that could train her hard enough. The 11th division.

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_One Week Later_

Sashi waited patiently at the meeting place. Around the middle of the week, she had panicked, believing one week was too long. However, she had calmed down enough to reassure herself that it wasn't too late and fell back asleep. Following that night, she had trained harder than ever. And it had paid off. She used to feel clumsy with her Zanpakutō, especially her Bankai. Not anymore. As brutal as the 11th division's training techniques were, she had learned a lot, and now felt confident that they could whup Ichimaru's butt now.

However, her friends were late. They had agreed to meet at two 'o' clock. It was two-twenty. _"Five more minutes. If they're not here by then, I'll track them down and drag them here." _Reassured by this thought, she waited patiently again. Her friends still didn't come. For the first time, Sashi began to worry. Had Ichimaru discovered their plans? Had he gone after her friends to stop them before they started?

"Hey, Sashimi"

Fortunately, Sashi was too dignified to jump out of her skin when she heard her friend's voice. Instead, she contented herself with just widening her eyes and turning around to face the source of the voice. Sure enough, Keiko was there. She looked slightly different. Her face was more tanned, and she was skinnier. Obviously, she had been training her butt off.

"Where's Kai?"

"Little boys' room"

"Where's Ishida?"

"On his way."

"Okay. Wait, how do you know?"

"I just do."

Before Sashi could question her further on this, Kai and Yamato appeared. Kai, like Keiko, was tanner and more muscular. Yamato, however, looked no different. Sashi chose to trust him and believe he trained.

"Okay, we all set?"

"Yep!"

"Yeah."

"Mm-hmm."

Sashi set her face into a determined look, "Good. It's time to confront Ichimaru."

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**Kind of a pointless chappie, huh? ;D. Don't worry, the action starts in the next chappie. Until then, check out Cool's story!**

**R&R? **


	3. Chapter 3

**Sheeeeee's back! Not that she was ever gone. ;D**

**Disclaimer: I'm not gonna put these anymore so just count this one for the whole story, mmk? Mmk. **

**I dun own Bleach.**

**Chappie 3 ;D**

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With the help of their speed and a Garganta, the group reached Hueco Mundo in a mere half-hour.

"I could have made it in half the time…" Keiko grumbled.

"Well, we're not all as fast as you are, Keiko." Kai said, grinning.

"True."

Yamato gulped. "Um… guys? We have a problem."

There was a huge steel wall blocking them from the entrance to HM. It had to be at least a foot thick.

"H-how are we gonna get through this?" said Keiko.

Sashi came over. "Stand back, guys. I'll handle this." She took out her Zan, a katana. The hilt was black with a white spade design. She closed her eyes, concentrating her reiatsu on her sword, and muttered, "Cut down, Hitogoroshi." The sword started glowing bright blue. She took one swing at the wall, then sheathed her sword.

"Uh, Sashi? Are you done already?" asked Yamato.

Keiko grinned, "Wait for it, Yama-kun."

Sure enough, within ten seconds, the whole wall collapsed into a million three-by-three inch cubes. However, upon closer inspection, the cubes all had five sides. Pentagons. She had cut perfect pentagons from the wall.

"How…?" Kai asked, his eyes bugging out.

"Sashimi's Shikai. Slayer. The ability to cut multiple times with one strike. Makes Sashimi the perfect long range fighter. Surprised?"

"Actually… no. I had always wondered how she cut a whole loaf of bread into twelve slices with one strike."

Sashi smacked Kai over the head. "I don't use my Shikai for that! I just slice fast!"

"OK OK STOP SMACKING ME!!!!"

Sashi sighed. "Well guys… are you ready?

They nodded.

"Then let's go in."

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They raced through the long hallways, trying to avoid confrontation as much as possible. However, after a while, they got to a big room with several hallways.

"Which way do we go?" Kai asked, looking at Sashi.

Sashi frowned. She was the leader, she should know this. But she didn't. She honestly didn't have a clue which hallway to go through. The only option was to…

"Split up."

Sashi blinked. Keiko had said the words just as Sashi had thought them. What happened to her during her training? It looked like she had developed psychic powers… But that was impossible. There must be another reason. Where did she go to train anyway?

"Sashimi, snap out of it!"

With a start, Sashi realized that she had been spacing out for almost twenty seconds since Keiko had said to split up. "Sorry," she muttered, "You're right, Keiko. We should spilt up. Everyone, choose a hallway. I'll give you communicators. If you find Ichimaru, call the rest of us."

"Yes ma'am!"

"Got it."

"Fine."

"Ready? GO!" The four of them spilt apart and raced down a hallway, Keiko going much faster, of course. If they knew just what they were heading into, they would have trained some more.

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**Ooooh!! Cliffhanger!!!! Haha keeps you dangling :P**

**R&R! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chappie 4 ;D**

**Oh wait… I think you know that already… -facepalm- **

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Keiko was the first one to encounter her enemy. She had raced into a wide room when the entrance and exit had closed on her. That was when Keiko noticed her. She was a red-haired girl, in her mid-twenties. The only weird thing about her was the "8" tattooed on her cheek and the weird crown thingamabobber on her head. Oh wait. She also had a _hole_ on her stomach. An Arrancar? Her outfit sure looked like a Arrancar's outfit. She had a sheath on her waist, no doubt a Zan. When she saw Keiko, she smiled and gave a friendly little wave.

"Hello." Her voice was a little too high for her appearance. Almost squeaky. "My name is Annandita."**(A/N Sorry I don't have Tite Kubo's talent at making cool names. I don't ever know what Annandita means…)**

"Hey," Keiko said, returning the smile. So she wanted to play friendly, huh? Two could play that game. "You think I'm just a weak little girl, don't you?" Okay, so maybe Keiko wasn't that good at acting friendly.

Annandita's smile widened. "Well, aren't you?"

"Nope. You are looking at the Third seat of the Third Squad," Keiko said, her voice full of pride.

"Aww, only third seat? I was hoping for at least a Lieutenant…"

"Well, you know what they say."

"What?"

"Count your blessings."

At that, Keiko flash-stepped right in front of the red-haired Arrancar. Before Annandita even knew what was happening, Keiko had already delivered a strong kick to her mouth, followed by an uppercut that knocked her ten feet in the air. When she landed, she was in a rather awkward position, with her feet in the air. She quickly righted herself, blushing furiously.

"Well, I see you're not as cute and innocent as you appear."

"Cute and innocent? You're weird."

Annandita sighed. Then she drew her Zan, a plain katana with a serrated edge. "Draw your Zanpakutō, and let's fight for real."

Keiko sticked out her tongue. "Don't tell me what to do!"

"So you're gonna fight without your Zanpakutō?"

"Shut up." Keiko brought out a whip from her belt.

"A whip? Bold weapon for such a little girl."

"No one asked for your opinion. You don't even know how much I can hurt you with this whip."

"Ooh, dark words coming from someone who can't follow through with them."

This was the last straw. Keiko was sick of everyone teasing her about her age. She jumped up in the air, almost touching the ceiling, and disappeared. Or at least that's what Annandita thought. In reality, Keiko was jumping around, faster than the human eye, preparing for an attack. She was going to take out all of her anger on this chick.

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At that moment, Kai just happened to encounter his own adversary. He was a pink-haired guy with deep blue eyes. He had a "7" tattoo on his collarbone, and his mask fragments were a pair of glasses. His Hollow hole wasn't visible. He was skinny and looked rather gay. He had a sadistic grin on his face, which widened when he saw Kai.

"Why, hello there… I take it your part of the people going against Kuroi-sama?"

"…"

"What's wrong? Too scared to say anything?"

"You… you…"

"Spit it out!"

"Your eyebrows… they're pink!"

The Arrancar's eyebrow twitched. Then he drew his sword and took a swipe at Kai. He narrowly dodged it.

"You think I don't know that?! I didn't choose to look like this!! The Arrancar I was modeled after looked like this!!!! I was born with pink eyebrows!!!!!!!!!!!"

"So I got the one with low self-esteem, huh…"

"SHUT UP!!!!!!!!" The Arrancar took several deep breaths and regained his cool. "Let me introduce myself. I am Franzzard."**(A/N Again, I have zero talent at making up names.) **

"Kai Kurosaki."

"Kurosaki's son, eh?"

"Eh? Are you Canadian?"

Another swipe. "I see you inherited your father's ability of annoyance."

"As well as his talent of kicking his opponent's ass until next Tuesday."

Yet another swipe. "Do you really find it wise to anger me?"

"Wise? Who needs wisdom? I just find it amusing."

Two swipes. Kai dodged them both. "I tire of this. Fight properly, insect."

"Tire? Like car tires? How do you car tire? And bugs are awesome!"

About twenty swipes. None of them hit Kai. "ENOUGH!!!"

"No need to yell, dude. I was just gonna draw my sword before you yelled." True to his word, Kai drew his sword, a four-foot long katana on his back. It wasn't half the size of his dad's. "Let's go."

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Sashi met her enemy in the middle of the hallway, not in a large room. Apparently, he had been too impatient and had wandered outside. He was a big fellow, with small eyes and a bald head. He had the number "5" on his right ankle, and his mask remains were nowhere to be seen, as well as his hole. His Arrancar outfit in general was strange. It had a long cloak that reached down to his knees, and it even had a hood. His dark eyes pierced deep into Sashi before he spoke.

"My name is Girro."**(A/N Wanna know how I make these names? I press random letters on the keyboard and make sure there's at least one pair of double letters and it's pronounceable.)**

"Nice to meet you. Name's Sashi. Just Sashi."

"You look familiar… have I met you before?"

"I don't seem to recognize you. Maybe you met my mother, I am told that I closely resemble her." Sashi lied, trying to make her challenger think that she would go easier on him.

"Indeed. Some things do look different… such as your nose. Your mother's was much pointier."

"So I am told. Enough with the formalities. Let's get this over with, and see who will come out alive."

"Happy to oblige."

Then they clashed.

* * *

Yamato was the last. He had gotten number 6. He looked in his teens, and was clearly a man-whore, with his outfit exposing his chest, midsection, and most of his legs. His hair was brown, styled into spikes. His tattoo was on his right side, on the ribs. His hole was right where his heart was supposed to be, on his chest to the left. His mask fragments were, strangely, on his right shoulder, making some kind of… scarf thing? Yamato wasn't sure. For some reason, his eyes were closed. Then he opened them. They were multi-colored, red, blue, yellow, black, green… they had no definite color.

The first thing the guy did was stick out his tongue. Then he said,

"Sup."

"Um… nothing much."

"Cool."

"…Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are we gonna fight?"

"Not until we know each other's names. I'm P.J. Yukkuru."**(…)**

"Yamato Ishida. By any chance, are you related to Grimmjow Jaegurjaques?"

"What, that traitor? I was modeled after him."

"Oh…"

"You must be a Quincy, judging from that bow you're holding."

"Yes, I am. My dad is Ishida Uryu."

"The last Quincy, huh? Impressive. Was your mom Inoue Orihime?"

"Yup. I didn't get her Shun Shun Rikka, though."

"Yeah, I don't think that kind of stuff is inheritable."

Yamato frowned. "That's weird. I thought since you were modeled after Grimmjow, you would be battle-crazy like him, but you're not. In fact, you seem kind of… lazy."

P.J. laughed. "Yeah, I am kinda lazy."

"So… are we gonna battle?"

"We should… but I didn't really get much sleep last night. You can go ahead to Kuroi-sama. I'll just play dead here. Just make sure to get scratched up on the way and act exhausted, okay?"

Yamato blinked. What should he do? These people were Espada, they could be really tricky. But there was always at least one good guy in the middle of a lot of bad guys, right? Oh why did he have to inherit his mother's kind nature?! The next thing he knew, he was saying, "Okay, I'll be going then."

That was when P.J. stabbed him in the back. Literally.

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**Muaha didja like it?? ;D**

**R&R!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chappie whatever, I don't even count now. ;D**

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Yamato sensed the blade before he felt it. To be honest, he didn't feel anything. Just a curious numbness. Even after P.J. had taken the blade out, he still didn't feel anything. The next thing he knew, Yamato had fallen to the floor, heavily bleeding. Faintly, he could hear P.J. saying that his Zanpakuto could numb and paralyze people, but most of his concentration was focused on his wound. His body wouldn't move, and his head was starting to become foggy. And then his eyes were dropping involuntarily, and the last thing he heard before losing consciousness was P.J. saying,

"See you later, loser."

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Sashi was having a rough time. She and her enemy were dead even. They were both out of breath, staring each other down. Suddenly, Sashi felt Yamato's reiatsu disappear. No way. Yamato? Defeated? No, not Yamato. Sashi refused to believe it. However, the two seconds that it took Sashi to think this gave Girro enough time to charge into her, hard enough to knock her into the opposite wall. Instantly, all of Sashi's breath got knocked out of her, making her look like a gasping fish. Charming. As she lay there, gasping, Girro was looming over her, looking bored.

"Well? Is that all you can do? Gasp?"

"Oh, hardy hardy har."

"I believe it is hardy har har."

"I wouldn't know. I'm not a laugher." Sashi swiped at the floor, cutting it into several long slices. Girro jumped up and hung onto a ceiling beam. Then he jumped down and unsheathed his sword.

"Now, you unsheath your sword?"

"Why yes. I'm afraid that I underestimated you. Now I shall have to be serious."

"Wait, you weren't serious before?"

"Nope. _Resurreccion, Open Wide, Shining Killer_." With that, Girro's sword became longer, and the end became something resembling a key."

"Very well, I shall have to release my Bankai also. _Bankai, Hitogoroshi_." Sashi's sword became a long scythe, with a silver and blue blade.

Sashi and Girro stood apart, glaring at each other, then in unison, they ran at each other.

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Keiko lay on the ground, bruised and bleeding. Annandita loomed over her, preparing to land the last strike.

"Well, the little kitty cat is finally defeated, huh?" Like Keiko, Annandita also had several wounds all over her body, and she was ready to collapse.

Keiko smiled, in spite of all her pain. "It's…not over."

"You are laying on the ground, completely exhausted, and you have the _nerve_ to say I haven't defeated you yet?"

"You haven't. I'm…just getting started." And then, against all odds, Keiko slowly stood up. She looked like the living dead, her arms loosely dangling at her sides. Then she slowly reached down and picked up her whip. Holding it out in front of her, she uttered three words:

"_Bankai, Mizu Mimizu_." Instantly, Keiko's whip divided into four different whips, each moving of their own will. Her wounds all completely healed as a dark red reiatsu surrounded her body.

"Bankai? That's impossible. You're only third seat!"

"Maybe, but I do know Bankai. No one must know, though. But, I figure since you're gonna be dead in a while, it's safe to use it."

"And why must no one know?"

"Because, I'm third seat. If they knew I know Bankai, I would definitely be promoted to captain status, and I'm afraid I'm just not ready for that. If I were captain, then I would have to work harder, train more. I'm different from cue ball. I hold zero interest in the captain's position. I am content with my current position. So, I don't show my Bankai to anyone."

"So, you don't use your Bankai out of laziness?"

"I don't use my Bankai out of lack of ambition. And interest."

"So, why are you using it now?"

"Because, this is the most important mission of my life. I will not let Soul Society down."

"I see. You are very loyal to Soul Society. That makes my victory even sweeter. _Resurreccion, Chomp, Predator_." Annandita's serrated sword became about three times as wide and sharp. It was surrounded by a deadly blue reiatsu in the shape of a shark.

"Bring it."

Keiko materialized in front of Annandita, striking her once, twice, three times. She quickly retreated, then charged again. However, this time Annandita was ready. She timed her slash at the exact time when Keiko collided. Keiko tried to dodge it, but it still caught her legs. Keiko cried out as the teeth ripped part of her pants to shreds. Luckily, she herself hadn't been cut.

Keiko growled, "Those were designer pants. Kira-kun made them for me."

"Boo-hoo. This is a battle, not a sissy fight. You're gonna get a lot more hurt than that."

"Not if I can help it!"

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Kai was dodging knives left and right. It turns out his enemy had the power to replicate his stuff, so his knife had turned into about a million knives, all of which were rushing toward him. In any other situation, he would have used his special ability, but there was no safe place to go. Finally, he managed to flash step behind Frazzard and landed a solid blow on his back. Unfortunately, his skin had turned rock hard, and it did nothing but knock him into the wall.

While he was recovering, Kai quickly muttered, "_Morph, Maho Genso._" Kai's sword instantly turned wobbly and jello-ey.

"What in the world is that?!"

"Good sir, let me introduce my Zankaputo special ability, morph. Basically, my sword is made of pure reiatsu, so it can assume any shape it wants. Now please, continue your attack."

"It you insist. _Multiply, Copycat_!!" Again, a barrage of knives flew at Kai. Unlike last time however, Kai just held his sword out, and it magically transformed into a giant shield of reiatsu. The knives harmlessly bounced off.

Franzzard scowled. Then he threw more knives, but they circled around to Kai's back. Kai simply extended his shield and they bounced off too.

"Come on, is that all you can do? Throw stuff?"

"Well then, do you want me to show you what I can do?"

"Go ahead."

Franzzard then, to Kai's shock, stabbed himself. However, when he took his sword out, there was no blood. Then, he held his sword out, and instantly, about seven Franzzards popped out of the end.

Kai gulped. "Oh, crap."

* * *

**Suspense!!!**

**R&RRRRR**


End file.
